The Gary Bartlett Story - John Alexander

Many of us grew up either watching or playing cricket... it's our national summer sport after all. Whether it was in the backyard, at the local cricket club or on the world stage the fast bowlers were the ones to fear. We've had a couple of speedsters with the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee and Shane Bond... but the fastest of them all is thought to be Gary Bartlett. His life and cricket career has been documented in a new book Meteor Over Marlborough:The Gary Bartlett Story, written by former sports journalist John Alexander.

Left: Full steam ahead against Ian Craig's Australian team during Bartlett's debut series in 1960. Right: Gary Bartlett batting and Sir Graham Henry wicket-keeping during a club match at Hagley Park in Christchurch between West Christchurch University (Bartlett's club) and High School Old Boys) in the mid 1960s. Henry and Bartlett played together for a season for Canterbury. Images courtesy of John Alexander.